What I Want My Words to Do To You
A film by
Madeleine Gavin, Judith Katz and
Gary Sunshine
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Distributed by PBS
If you have committed a violent crime, is it possible to redeem yourself? In What I Want My Words to Do to You, women inmates at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women try to answer the question. In a writing workshop led by playwright Eve Ensler, the women in the group include high-profile convicts like Kathy Boudin and Judy Clark, former members of the Weather Underground and also Jan Warren, “Changing Minds” panelist. Through a series of writing exercises and discussions, the deeply personal mixes with the humorous and the tragic, profoundly showing the power of art in the service of healing and the importance of the college-in-prison program at Bedford Hills. The film culminates in an unprecedented prison performance of the women’s writings by acclaimed actresses Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Hazelle Goodman, Mary Alice and Rosie Perez.
A short segment from What I Want My Words to Do to You was shown during the “Changing Minds” panel discussion at Barnard College.
